Tuna is great for a quick mid week dinner and so easy to cook
The first thing you need to think about is choosing your fillets. As we aren’t going to be cooking them the whole way through you need to make sure they are as fresh as possible. If cooking more than one then try and get them a similar thickness as well so you can cook them the for the same amount of time. Try and pick steaks that aren’t too thin so they don’t dry out when cooking, As I don’t live near a fishmongers I often have to resort to supermarket tuna which to be honest with you can be a bit hit and miss. I have often decided to cook something else because it doesn’t look up to scratch.
Before you cook the tuna you need to make sure you bring it up to room temperature. We are going to be cooking it for a very short time so you don’t want the middle of the tuna cold. Take it out the fridge 20 – 30 minutes before you cook it and that should be fine. Pat the tuna dry so when you add it to the pan there is no excess moisture hitting the oil in the pan. Season with salt and pepper and any other flavours you are using at this point.
I would suggest getting the rest of your dinner ready first as the tuna is only go to take a few minutes to cook and you don’t want to be messing around with other things while the tuna is cooking.
To cook the tuna you need to heat some olive oil in a frying pan on a high heat. Add the tuna steak to the pan and cook until the bottom part of the tuna has changed from pink to a grey colour. You’ll see the colour change slowly work its way up the tuna. Flip it over and do the same on the other side. It should only take 1 – 2 minutes each side. We want to cook the tuna medium rare so it’s still pink in the middle.
Once you’ve done that take it out the pan, slice and serve! Easy as that! It does carry on cooking so I would serve it straight away rather than resting it.
My perfect way to cook tuna steak
- Bring the tuna steak up to room temperature
- Pat dry
- Season with salt and pepper and any other flavours you are using
- Heat a pan of olive oil on a high heat
- Add the tuna steak to the pan and cook until it has turned from pink to grey then turn over and cook the same on the other side until it is medium rare (1 – 2 minutes each side)
- Remove from the heat and serve.
Below I have made Tuna steak with a pea puree, home made corn and tomato salsa and sweet potato cakes.
